Facing Reality
by Hotrod198
Summary: Things have changed in Kanto. Pokémon now die. However, people still venture out on journeys. These people are known as Nuzlockers. And this, is one of their tales. Prepare for death, drama, action and of course, the occasional humour. Rated T for death.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone, Hotrod here. As you can see I've started a new story. But don't worry; I have plans for this one to be continued. I've recently took on a Nuzlocke Challenge alongside my friend Animaster. He is doing Fire Red while I do Leaf Green so go check out his Nuzlocke, well, when he publishes it anyways. We both have different plots but it should still be a good read. So leave a review and tell me what you think! I hope you guys find it enjoying as I have.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

The Return of King Arthur

"Crap…" I muttered as I fell out of bed. "Not another bloody nightmare… This has got to stop!" My name is Cole, Cole Harding. Ever since I was a little boy I've had dreams about everything dying. I hope one day the dreams will go away. But I doubt they will. Anyways I got up and stretched my back, hearing bones crack. I quickly grabbed my long-sleeved shirt and pants and chucked them on, the white shirt matching the denim jeans. Grabbing a red shirt and chucking it on over the long sleeve, topping it off by putting my red cap on my head, forcing my brown hair down. I grabbed a pair of socks and quickly put my shoes on. Once I was done I stretched once more.

"Well…" I muttered. "It's time to see what boring old Pallet Town has for me today." I quickly ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on a soccer ball halfway down. When I got downstairs I saw my mum sitting there, watching the TV. She looked at me as I walked over. She said nothing and returned to watching the TV. I sighed. My mum hardly ever spoke. I started to walk towards the door when she said something.

"All good boys leave home someday," she said. "It says so on TV." I stared at the back of my mum's head. She hardly ever speaks and she says this out of the blue. What the hell does it mean?

"Um mum…" I said. "I'm going out for awhile. I'll be back later." My mum did nothing to reply. I sighed once more, turned, and left the house.

* * *

><p>"Hmmm," a man in a lab coat said. "It seems the three new prototypes are doing very well in progressing. They have already reached Stage 4. One more Stage and they're ready for release."<p>

"Sir," another man said, also wearing a lab coat. He was considerably shorter though. "How will they get to Stage 5? They require a lot of work to reach that Stage."

"Well…" the first one said. "Which one has been doing the worst?"

"Let's see…" the second man said, flipping through some notes on a clipboard. "That would be Prototype #1; The Grass Type Bulbasaur."

"Excellent," the first one said. "Set Prototype 2 and 3 onto 1. That should get them up a stage."

"As you command sir," the second said. He pulled out a touch screen pad. As soon as he did this, he and the first man walked over to a window to see three creatures sitting in the room. One was green, the other blue and the final one red. Suddenly, the red and blue one started to shake. The green one looked at them scared. He tried to run but there was no escape. The red and blue one leapt onto the green one and tore it apart, blood pouring out everywhere.

* * *

><p>I walked down a street of Pallet, hands in my pockets. Pallet Town was fairly quiet today. Usually there would be a couple of tradesmen out on the street, trying to sell their items. However, business must've been booming elsewhere. As I was making my way down the street, I heard something. Turning to see what it was, I saw a teenager, about my age, walking towards some sort of creature. He had brown spiky hair which went in every direction. He wore a purple shirt and denim jeans as well as a necklace of some sort. As I crept closer to have a look, I noticed the creature was actually two small creatures, a red one and blue one. The red one looked like a lizard with a flame on the end of its tail. The blue one looked like a turtle which walked on two legs. The turtle seemed to be chasing the lizard. I ran over to the kid.<p>

"Hey what's going on?" I asked him. "Has the lizard done something wrong or…?"

"Just shut up…" the boy muttered, not taking his attention off the two creatures. The turtle suddenly charged at the lizard, tackling it into the dirt. "Stop!" the boy shouted again. Both creatures stopped and looked at the boy. "Let's go…" he said. The two creatures nodded and slowly trotted after the boy.

As the two passed, the lizard looked at me, straight in the eye. And in that instant, I knew something was wrong. However, before I could say something, the boy had brought out two spheres and shot out a red laser towards the creatures, absorbing them into the balls. He placed them on his belt and then walked away. I was going to say something but before I could, he had disappeared into thin air.

"What in Arceus' name…" I said. Suddenly, something hit me over the back of the head, causing me to lose consciousness. However, before I went down, I saw a man with a black mask over his face.

* * *

><p>I slowly drifted awake to see myself in some sort of room. I saw a table in front of me with a man in a lab coat behind it.<p>

"Ah," the man said. "You're awake." I went to rub my head yet I couldn't move. I looked as good as I could behind me to see I was tied up.

"What do you want?" I asked. The man looked at me, his mouth grinning.

"What I want," the man said. "Is for you to leave this town and never come back."

"Why?" I asked. "What have I done wrong?"

"Nothing," the man said. "Yet you could do in the future. I can't take that risk. So I'm going to make a proposition. Take this Charmander here. Go on a journey through Kanto and beat the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 to become champion. That way you can keep out of my way and still enjoy yourself."

"So I go on a journey as long as I don't return to Pallet Town for awhile," I said. "And whatever you want to do, you can do."

"Correct," the man said. "However, I must test you. My grandson, Cory, will battle you. Good Luck!" As he said this, the boy with the purple shirt from before appeared with the turtle next to him.

"Tackle," he said, with little emotion. The Squirtle charged at Charmander, slamming into him.

"What do I do?" I cried out. Oak threw me something, a red device. I flipped it open and a list of Charmander's moves appeared. "Okay then, use Scratch!" I shouted out, hoping for luck. The Charmander also charged at the Squirtle, its claws glowing. It slashed at the Squirtle's chest, causing blood to slowly start to drip. The Squirtle groaned in pain, clutching at its chest. The Squirtle then charged once more. The Charmander ducked as Squirtle flew over top.

"Focus," the boy said. Squirtle stopped, took a breath and then glared at Charmander. "Now, use Tackle! Finish it now!"

"Charmander, use Scratch!" I shouted once more. Charmander's claws glowed and he ran at the Squirtle, who was also charging at Charmander. The two Pokémon collided, sending out shockwaves. The two Pokémon then fell to the ground. However, Charmander rose above Squirtle, wiping the blood away from its mouth.

"Impressive," the man said. "You did well in controlling it. I was right to entrust you that Pokémon."

"Thanks," I said. "But one more question. Who are you?"

Me?" the man said. "I'm Oak, Professor Oak."

* * *

><p>I walked to the edge of town, Charmander standing right next to me. Oak had told me I had better leave soon. He gave me a present as well; five Pokéballs. I figured they could be useful for whatever happens out there.<p>

"Well Charmander," I said. "Do you have a name?" The Charmander looked at me like I was an idiot. It then said Char and it walked forward.

"So much for conversation…" I muttered, putting my hands in my pocket and walking off. "Look, Charmander, if you didn't want to leave just say so!" Suddenly, the Charmander turned around.

"I wanted to leave yes!" the Charmander shouted. "But he forced you out too soon that you didn't get the Antidote! Now I'm most likely going to die! I am King Arthur! Son of Lord Uther! I can't die because I'm the last one in my family line!" I stared at the Charmander flabbergasted.

"You… you can talk?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes I can bloody well talk. Every Pokémon these days talk!"

"Well I didn't know!" I exclaimed. I took a deep breath. "Now what's this antidote about?"

"Well instead of dying, like Pokémon do, this antidote prevents death and instead causes fainting. Oak plans to give it to the highest buyers so he can make a few bucks off of living Pokémon. The only person he ever gave it to for free was his own grandson."

"Wow… talk about snobby."

"Yes. However, I fear that his grandson is confused. I don't know why exactly but yeah, that's basically it…"

"So then…" I said. "According to the Pokédex I can only catch the first Pokémon I see on each route, however if it is a duplicate, it won't take effect. The other rule is that everyone must be nicknamed, or basically their name which isn't Charmander. So you are Arthur, correct?"

"Yup," Arthur said, nodding. "And we gotta be ready because at any moment… a Wild Pokémon could attack!"

As soon as Arthur said this, a purple and cream coloured rat jumped out of the bushes, diving straight towards me. I brought my arms up to defend myself but Arthur had stepped in the way, scratching it with his claws. I looked at the Pokédex quickly and it revealed itself as a Rattata.

"Give me a command!" Arthur shouted.

"Um let's see…" I said, opening the Pokédex again. "Okay, use Scratch!"

Arthur ran at the mouse. His claws glowed white and he slashed the Rattata, sending it skidding backwards. The Rattata then charged again, this time a white streak coming off of it. The Pokémon slammed into Arthur, sending him tumbling backwards. Arthur looked badly hurt. He wiped his mouth as blood appeared.

"I will not be defeated by some rat!" he shouted. Arthur roared and his tail flame exploded, becoming bigger than ever. Arthur's eyes turned red. He then fired a small flame at Rattata, an Ember attack. The fire collided with the Rattata, sending it flying into a tree. It tried to get up but it couldn't. Its body had heaps of scratches and blood was dripping out of its mouth and nose.

"Do it!" Arthur shouted at me. "Throw the Arceus-damned Pokéball!" Knowing what I meant I picked off an empty Pokéball from my belt. I then lobbed it at the Rattata, the mouse being absorbed into the Pokéball. The ball fell to the ground and started to shake furiously. I clenched my fists, hoping for it to be captured. It started to slow down.

'_This is it…' _I thought to myself._ 'My first catch ever!'_

The Pokéball stopped. It dinged loudly and I stared at the Pokéball for a few seconds. Then I jumped into the air, shouting in joy. I did. I caught my very first Pokémon!

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><p>And that ends the first chapter of Facing Reality. Don't worry, if anything seems confusing it'll all make sense sooner or later. And if you didn't discover the rules in there during the story, here they are in proper detail. Below that are the basic stats of Arthur.<p>

Rule 1. First Pokémon on each route can be caught only.

1a) Duplicates do not count. This means that I if I see a Rattata as my first pokemon on another route, it won't count as the first pokemon I see.

Rule 2. Every Pokémon must be nicknamed to form Relationships.

Rule 3. Pokémon die instead of faint so must be either Perma-boxed or released.

3a) if I get a full wipe, e.g. my 6 Pokémon party die, I cannot keep going with whatever is still in the box. I must end the game immediately.

Name: Arthur

Species: Charmander

Nature: Bold

Gender: Male

Caught: Level 5, Oak's Lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, Hotrod here again. Here is Chapter 2 of Facing Reality. We will introduce the Rattata and one more new character to the party. There will also be the first trainer battle, and I bet you guys can all guess who that's going to be. So read on!

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

The Prodigal Grandson

"Come on out!" I shouted, throwing the Pokéball into the air. Emerging from it was my recently caught Pokémon, Rattata. "Hello little guy!"

"I am not a guy!" the Rattata retaliated with a feminine voice. I am Guinevere, Queen of the Rattatas. You shall not treat me in such a way!"

"So you're Guinevere huh?" I said, opening my Pokédex. I quickly typed in Guinevere's name where her data was. I looked back at the Rattata. "So guys, who's up for a little bit of training?"

Arthur shrugged his shoulders as Guinevere just nodded. Arthur turned around and then fired an Ember at an incoming Pidgey, burning it to nothing and killing it. Guinevere charged at a nearby Pidgey as well, the collision sending the bird to fly back into a tree, blood pouring out from its body.

"I don't think the training has to have THAT result…" I muttered as the two returned from their kills.

"You did ask us to train," Arthur said. "You didn't specify how though."

"Uh…" I groaned. "Fine! Go on and kill innocent Pokémon!" As I said this however, a Pidgey dive-bombed straight towards me. I ducked down but Arthur jumped over me and used Scratch. He then turned around and used Ember, killing the bird.

"Innocent huh?" Arthur asked. I shook my head and kept on walking, hands in my pockets.

* * *

><p>"Cory…" Oak said, looking at his grandson. "You failed in that battle but do not worry, you will have other chances. But now, go to Route 22. I feel the boy will go that way to train. Take the antidote. This will prevent any of your further catches from dying."<p>

"Thank you grandfather…" Cory said. "I won't fail you."

"Excellent," Oak said. "Now go. Make sure he does not interfere!"

* * *

><p>I walked through the entrance of Viridian City, many people wandering around. Several marketers ran up to me, holding up shirts, badges, scarfs, anything which someone may buy on a whim. I tried to get through but they wouldn't let me get through.<p>

"Just let me through!" I shouted.

"If you buy something from me," a man said. "I'll tell everyone to back off."

"Ugh… fine!" I snapped. I walked over to him and looked at his merchandise. One particular thing caught my eye, a necklace with three jewels on them. "How much for the necklace?" I asked.

"500 dollars," the man said. "Though I'll cut you a deal and sell it for 250. That's the best you're going to get."

"Fine…" I muttered. I reached in my pocket and got the cash necessary for the object. After I paid, I grabbed the necklace and put it on. Something felt weird about it. I didn't know what though. Ignoring it, I noticed everyone was moving away from the Pokémon Centre, allowing me to get through. I bowed politely to the man I bought the necklace from and entered the Pokémon Centre. I walked up to the front counter where I saw a lady with pink hair standing there.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked in a polite voice.

"I'd like my Pokémon healed please," I said. "And I need it as quick as possible." The nurse nodded and took the two Pokéballs containing Arthur and Guinevere. She then headed out to the back area. I found a chair and sat down, reading a random magazine on the table.

* * *

><p>"Tackle it again!" Cory shouted. Squirtle charged at a Pidgey, colliding with it. The Pidgey looked badly bruised. "Go Pokéball!" he shouted. The Pokéball flew towards the bird, hitting it in the head followed by being absorbed into the ball by a red light. The ball fell to the ground and began to shake rapidly. After about five shakes, it dinged, ringing of a successful capture.<p>

"Good job," Cory said to the Squirtle, who nodded back at his trainer. "You better live up to your name." Cory then opened up the Pidgey's Pokéball. Pidgey emerged from the Pokéball, chirping happily.

"Squirtle, show Pidgey how we train around here. Make sure you tell it first." Squirtle nodded.

"As you command master," Squirtle said, walking off with Pidgey. Cory looked at Squirtle, suspicious of the little turtle. He shook his head and walked off, following the two Pokémon.

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><p>"Will Pokémon Trainer Cole please report to the front desk," a voice said over the intercom. I put the magazine down and got up. It had been about two minutes since Arthur and Guinevere went into be healed. As I approached the front desk, I saw Arthur and Guinevere out of their Pokéballs and standing on the front counter.<p>

"Hey guys!" I said. The two Pokémon looked at me and smiled. "Feel better now?" The two Pokémon nodded and I grabbed their Pokéballs. "Thanks for that." I said to the nurse. She smiled and bowed politely. She then returned to her computer and begun typing away. I recalled my two Pokémon and placed the Pokéballs onto my belt.

As I left the Pokémon Centre however, I brushed past someone. I looked back and saw a man talking to the nurse. Ignoring it completely, I left the centre, hoping for something new.

* * *

><p>"Okay guys," I said to Arthur and Guinevere. "We're going to head onto Route 22. Hopefully there's some cool Pokémon there and we get to catch one. Unless anyone disagrees to the idea?" Arthur and Guinevere shook their heads.<p>

"Good," I said. "Now onwards!" I made my way along the path, which soon led into Route 22. Looking at the route, I saw it was pretty plain except for a river flowing through the middle of it. As I walked along the route something scoffed.

"Did you two here that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Arthur questioned back. As I was about to reply, something came out of nowhere and struck Arthur, sending him tumbling to the ground.

"Guinevere!" I shouted. The Rattata jumped forward, ready to attack. The blur came in again. However, Guinevere jumped to the side, dodging the attack. "Quick Attack now!" I shouted. Guinevere jumped towards the creature, hitting it in the chest. The creature then jumped towards me and revealed its features. It looked like a furry pig monkey. I opened the Pokédex which quickly revealed the Pokémon to be a Mankey.

"Let me handle this…" Arthur muttered, stepping forward. He charged at the Mankey, slashing at it. The Mankey did a back flip, dodging the attack. However, while it was back flipping, Arthur fired an Ember, hitting the monkey. It fell down to the ground, black stains appearing on its body from the burnt fur.

"Now I'll take over!" I said. "Pokéball go!" I threw the Pokéball at the Mankey. The Pokémon disappeared into the Pokéball, which followed by falling to the ground and starting to shake. The ball shook some more and it followed up with a ding.

"Yes!" I shouted out loud. "I caught a Mankey!" I ran over and grabbed the Pokéball and threw it into the air. The Mankey emerged, looking slightly peeved.

"Hello!" Guinevere said, running over to the Mankey. "What's…?" Guinevere stopped. The Mankey leered at Guinevere. Guinevere froze in fear. Suddenly, the Mankey kicked Guinevere, sending it tumbling backwards.

"Hey!" I snapped. "Cut that out! She was just being nice!" The Mankey scoffed.

"I don't take orders from anyone," the Mankey said. From the voice, I figured out it was a girl. "So you better be dreaming if you want me to listen to you."

"Look," Arthur said, walking towards the Mankey. "My trainer, well, he doesn't know much about Pokémon. He's still pretty clueless. However, I've already trusted him. I believe he can keep us all alive. If you're smart, you'll know what's happening in the cities. So be careful who you choose to listen to." The Mankey groaned.

"Fine…" she muttered. She walked over to Guinevere and held out her paw. She helped Guinevere up. "Sorry about that… Anyways, my name is Gina, Leader of the Key Clan."'

"Nice to meet you!" Guinevere said, smiling. I smiled, looking at the scene between the three Pokémon.

"_At least they get along…"_ I thought to myself. _"Otherwise this could've been chaos for me…"_

"Well well," a voice said, breaking me from my train of thought. "Looks like the noob isn't doing too badly!" I turned around and there, I saw Cory, standing there with a smug look on his face. Next to him was Squirtle and on his shoulder was a Pidgey.

"What do you want, Cory?" I asked. Cory smiled.

"Well, a battle, of course!" he said. I groaned.

"You mean now?" I asked. Cory nodded in reply. "Well crap…" I muttered.

"Come on, choose your Pokémon!" Cory shouted. "Pidgey, you're up!" The Pidgey jumped off of Cory's shoulder. It did a loop to loop and then landed on the ground, several feet away from Cory.

"Let's do it Guinevere!" I said. Guinevere ran forward and bared its fangs. "Quick Attack!" I shouted, getting in first. This shocked Cory and Guinevere bolted towards the Pidgey, slamming into it.

"Counter with Sand Attack!" Cory shouted. Cory's Pidgey kicked up sand, creating a small sand cloud with Guinevere.

"_Crap!"_ I thought to myself. _"Now Guinevere can't see!"_

"Guinevere, run straight forward to escape the sand!" I shouted. Guinevere bolted through the sand, emerging from it. However, Guinevere still couldn't see as sand had got in her eye.

"Tackle attack!" Cory shouted. Pidgey soared straight towards Guinevere. However, something else came along and slashed at Pidgey, sending it toppling to the ground. Arthur stood in front of Pidgey, his tail fire blazing slightly more than usual.

"Take me on instead," Arthur said. The Pidgey got up and jumped into the air.

"Pidgey, use Gust!" Cory commanded. Pidgey flapped its wings hard, forming a small tornado. The tornado headed straight towards Arthur, colliding with him, and sending him flying into a tree.

"Arthur!" I shouted out to the Charmander. "Are you alright?" Arthur stood up and growled. Suddenly, the fire on his tail exploded, becoming a huge pillar of flame. Arthur opened his mouth and fired a huge fireball at Pidgey, colliding with the bird Pokémon and exploding. Pidgey slammed into a tree where he fell unconscious.

"Crap…" Cory muttered, recalling his Pidgey. "Let's move Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped forward, grinning.

"Bring it, lizard…" Squirtle said.

"_Did Squirtle just talk?"_ I thought to myself, staring at the turtle. _"Impossible…"_

"Squirtle, use Bubble!" Cory shouted. I snapped out of my staring session at Squirtle and turned focused on what was hitting Arthur; a water type attack.

"Arthur, get out of there!" I shouted. Arthur didn't listen though. He charged straight through the bubbles and slashed the Squirtle. However, Squirtle quickly charged forwards, tackling into Arthur's chest.

"Looks like the lizard doesn't know when to quit!" Squirtle taunted. Arthur growled and blasted an ember into the Squirtle's face. However, no severe damage was given.

"Gina, get him out of there!" I shouted. Gina ran forward. However, instead of grabbing Arthur, she shoved him aside and took up a battle stance, ready to take on the Squirtle.

"So you get the Pig Monkey to help you!" Squirtle taunted once more. Gina started to growl this time. Then, with lightning speed, Gina jumped into the air and her hand began to glow. She smashed her hand into Squirtle's head. Sending him flying backwards. Squirtle held his head as he tried to get up. However, as soon as he looked up, Gina kicked him in the face, knocking him out cold. Gina sighed and slumped to the ground.

"Nice work Gina!" I shouted, running over to the Mankey. Gina smiled happily as I hugged the Pokémon. Suddenly, I heard groaning. Turning around, I saw Arthur, limping towards me.

"We beat him?" Arthur asked. I smiled.

"Yeah we beat him," I said. I looked over to Cory, who had recalled Squirtle. He looked at me and nodded. With that, he turned and left, hands in pockets.

"What's his problem?" Guinevere asked.

"I don't know…" I replied. "But something is different about him. Anyways, who's up for some food at the Pokémon Centre!"

Everyone cheered in agreement and we backtracked back to Viridian City to heal up for the next leg of our journey.

* * *

><p>And thus ends chapter 2 of Facing Reality. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Anyways, I hope I'm capturing good personalities with the Pokémon. And if anyone's curious, Arthur's burst of rage is Blaze taking control. However, it will all have a meaning towards the end. Anyways, here are the stats of Guinevere and Gina when I caught them. Oh and by the way, I'll be updating Fridays and Sundays, allowing me to have enough time to write each chapter. So until Friday, stay tuned!<p>

Name: Guinevere

Species: Rattata

Nature: Brave

Gender: Female

Caught: Level 3, Route 1

Name: Gina

Species: Mankey

Nature: Sassy

Gender: Female

Caught: Level 2, Route 22


End file.
